CHICAGO - Senior men's soccer player Josh Beard will be providing Flames' fans with an inside look into the 2013 squad with a weekly segment called `Blogging with Beard'. Beard will blog about team traditions, traveling, memorable moments and many other aspects that make the UIC men's soccer squad unique. Aside from being a starting defender for the Flames, Beard is also a communications major with an interest in creative writing.

Blog #7

Eating good meals is very important to the performance of athletes, especially when playing at a high level. When we are on the road, we typically eat at Olive Garden the night before a game. This gives us a variety of pasta dishes we can choose from, as well as unlimited breadsticks and salad.

The pasta and breadsticks are high in carbohydrates, which are great for us the night before a game. This has led to a sort of competition among some of the players while we are eating. We are in no way professional eaters, but we do find a way to eat a lot of food while we are at Olive Garden.

Piotr Lagowski has been the top eater in terms of the salad we are presented. Each time we have traveled, he has found a way to eat a bowl and a half all to himself. After that, we have the breadstick king, Marcin Modzelewski. The last time we were at Olive Garden, he was able to eat a total of 12 breadsticks.

The top eater, which comes to no surprise to any of the team, is Jorge Alvarez. When we get the never ending pasta from Olive Garden, Jorge easily takes down three to four bowls. Most of us barely eat one or even two, while Jorge is cruising through multiple bowls.

These type of competitions off the field help the team keep its mental edge before the games when we travel. We head to Valparaiso this weekend, and will see if anyone is dethroned from their eating crown.